A couple of weeks ago, I proposed a SV hiatus project which would be a picspam, no less then 10 stills, no more then 20, that encompassed SV for you. The idea was to see which unique images everyone would pick, and to see what the show is, or has been, in each unique perspective.

Well, I don't know what I was thinking. LMAO

Really, the "Dear Santa" project was much easier (if you haven't done that one, consider it, its easy).

I found when I was trying to put this together, I just had the hardest time deciding, and the more I thought about it, and poured through stills, the more confused and overwhelmed I felt. So, I decided to just bite the bullet, and post it! I'm hoping a few of you are still in for this. I know I was really looking forward to what you would come up with. I'm hoping that you'll take up the challenge on your own journal, and post the link here.

In the end, I think I'm posting 17. And I think some of my final choices might surprise people. I can't even promise I won't make changes.

I think because it defines SV to me. At least the SV now. And the way Clark is treated. I did go back-and-forth, and wonder if I should include it. I asked myself whether I was just including SV stuff that made me happy, or what I really thought the show was. In the end, I felt I had to go with what I thought the show was. For better, and for worse.

The seventh picture of Clark and Lex in the disintegrating Fortress of Solitude in the Arctic is so interesting. I just had an epiphany! It so mirrors the pilot where Clark swims in to rescue Lex from the Porsche accident on the bridge. Both pictures have the underwater (or ice water) blur to them. In the pilot, Clark is in the dominant rescuing position. In the FOS picture, Lex is in the dominant destroyer position. Very good of you to bring that to mind. It comes full circle.

I think thats sort of how I see Clark...as mostly heart. I found myself gravitating towards hugs. So much so that I had to edit some down. I wonder if the Clana pics aren't redundant, but I just couldn't bring myself to edit one of them out.

What a lovely collection. Such an interesting blend of Clark as the hero driven to save the day even at great risk to himself, and as a very loving man whose greatest pleasure comes from his loved ones. And I love that you've included the alpha and omega of Clex on Smallville, plus the end-game with Alexander showing off the kryptonite ring. And yes, the stabbling in the back is the defining moment of S8 for me even if we're supposed to forget about it, and also stands in for so many TC moments on the show.

A very powerful collection of pics, Valerie. I think you've really captured the heart of the show, which I see as Clark's limitless, unshakable love for the people in his life, and for humanity as a whole. Here we see him as son, lover, friend, and hero, both human and alien. And I am reminded of how much I love him.

I love that pic of Clark and Lois in the rain so much. I don't see it so much as a romantic moment as a Superman one. Clark stands so tall and strong, completely enveloping Lois in his arms, making her feel safe and warm. He was never repulsed by the zombie disease that gripped her, only anguished by it, and determined to save her. My hero.

The shot of the Justice League standing dispassionately over Clark as he lies helpless and suffering on the ground is so chilling. It brings tears to my eyes, and makes me furious all over again. I will NEVER get over the fact that TPTB brought us that moment without letting Clark or anyone else express the outrage their complete betrayal deserved. Even if they think the future Man of Steel really is that forgiving, as fans we needed to see it from someone. We still do.

This is a wonderful picspam. Thank you for sharing your choices with us, and for giving us the inspiration to do our own. I'm dying to finish mine (we just might have a couple of moments in common), but I've promised myself I would catch up on replying to old comments first. I can't wait to see what other people come up with!

I tried to include a screenshot of so many important relationships in Clark's life. I know I missed some. You have no idea how much I wanted to include a Calicia shot. I also think I'm missing a Clark/Pete/Chloe shot from the early years, but I just couldn't find one I loved.

Rabid is my favorite ep of this season, and to me, the moments between Clois felt the most real and passionate. I knew I wanted to include a Clois moment from this season, but I was drawn to this moment in the rain over the kisses, or the future sex.

I have come to realize that I'll never get over what happened in Doomsday. It changed how I feel about the show forever. And how I feel about Oliver, Dinah and Bart.

Like you, SV is all about Clark for me (tho Lois shares the honours for my favourite SV character), and I just loved your picspam.

I absolutely *adore* the pics of Lil Clark. The casting director truly did a bang-up job picking the little guy - not only does he believably look like a mini Tom Welling, he has that beautiful, otherworldly, smiley quality I imagine a Lil Clark would have. It's no wonder Martha fell for the lil guy so fast and so hard.

The Clex shots are pretty evocative of their relationship in SV - from that fateful day Clark saved him, to *Evol*Lex, to the messed-up bits of how everything's entangled up in lies and yet they can't quite leave the other person alone. *sigh* Those boys...

And nice to see a pic of Clark with each of the girls in the show. :) Clark in that Tess pic? I swooon for that lovely face of his. LOL. And funny how one of the best Clois moments comes in an episode about zombies. Heh. That whole sequence of Clois at the end was just gorgeous. Oh, I always chortle at how pint-sized KK looks in the piccie with Lana swept up in Clark's GiantBearHug. So cute!

But I must say that interestingly enough, my absolute fave in the bunch has to be the one of the Kent Family. Just love the pic and everything in it - the warm colors of the Kent house, the lovely composition of the frame: the way Clark is the middle, swaddled in his red blankie and protected at each side by Papa and Mama Kent... It reminds me of how much Clark's personality was influenced by his parents, and even though the show has kinda moved past them now, I'm surprised by how much nostalgia I feel for their presence, just looking at that shot. In the end, mo matter their mistakes along their way, I think the Kents were good, loving parents who did their best in an extraordinarily difficult task of raising a good (super-powered alien!) son.

There was this shot of Clois from Exposed that was a part of this picspam till the very last minute. In fact, I still feel like its missing.

I love that moment in Lineage when little Clark reaches over to pet little Lex. It was so sweet, and I see it as forging a connection that will be eternal. For better, or worse.

The Cless picture was a last minute add-on. But it not only showcased Clark as the hero, it also showed that first impression Clark makes on Tess, and how that shapes her relationship to him. It felt important to where the show is now.

I love and adore that Clana hug from Hidden. I always have, I always will.

Like you, I think my favs are the ones of the Kent family. I could easily have done this whole picspam of the Kent family. Its such an important dynamic, and the show is worse for having lost it.

No, I totally wouldn't roll my eyes. I was actually hoping that a few people who are really shippers, or say more engaged with one certain character (not named Clark) did this too. Only because it would give another perspective, and its supposed to be unique.

It makes me sad that I felt compelled to include the JLA betrayal, but it was a show changer for me.

Oh God that Lana and Clark pre-sex scene was so serious, it was like they were going to their deaths rather than about to make love, still that's probably more a teen drama thing rather than a Smallville thing.

Good choices, the burning S in the phone booth always sticks in my mind.

I included that Clana moment for a few reasons. Of course, its a big moment for the show since Clark loses his virginity. But in a way, that scene also has a lot to do with Lex, and just Clark's life at that moment. Besides, its a lovely shot.

The burning S is such a great shot, but I choose it also because it does seem to encompass the show for me in a way. Its Clark, with that iconic symbol on his chest, but its also burned there, and painful for him. And, like it or not, thats always been the way SV has handled Clark's destiny. They made it a very painful journey for him, and I'm not sure any of us know if he'll become Superman because he loves humanity, or if he becomes Superman because his destiny was set for him, and he's compelled to do it out of guilt and responsibility.

My applause to you for doing this! I thought your picspam was great! I really liked all your choices.

The only problem is, I have no idea how to go about doing one of my own. Every time I start thinking about what pictures I want to use, it stresses me out and I'm sure that wasn't your intention with this project. :-)

I know the feeling, LOL I could've agonized over this for another week, at least. In the end, I just decided to post what I had, and stop stressing. My advice is to follow your gut. I think you'll find there are pictures you can't omit, even if you can't explain why.

Is it any surprise that there are so many of these moments that I instantly associate SV with too?

I adore all of the ones of the Kent moments, particularly the 2nd and the 4th pics you've chosen of their dynamic because they represent so well what they brought to the show and meant to it.

Both the Clark!saves ones are brilliant, the Cless one for Clark' sheer beauty and the 'Commencement' one because it is probably my all time, most favorite save of the series.

I can also see why you gravitated towards the particular Clois shot you did, because for me, that scene, that ep, really solidly defined the apex, atleast thus far, of these two at their most compelling together.

And Clex. ::sighs:: The wee!Clex is probably the one I am drawn to the most, because while the others, especially the 'Arctic' one are obviously epic, there's something touching, yet foreboding about the former. And that in so many ways summed up what Clex could so often be anyways.

Of the Clana shots you've chosen, their hug from 'Hidden' is just one of my favorite Clark!hugs of all time and it is personally speaking, so much more an emotional and intimate scene to me than the Clana one from 'Mortal.'

The Chlark shot is very apt as well. That was not only a defining moment for them, but for the show itself as well.

As for the JL!beyrayal and the last one - I'm mesmerized by the latter because it's now such an iconic shot, in the context of this show. And the former I'm just even more disgusted with every time I see it.

This was a really terrific idea. I want to try giving it a shot, but a) I'm rather computer / lj know-how challenged and b) I've already seen such wonderful compilations that perhaps it's all been said / shown already.